Some days are just meant to be fun. Today was one of them. I had the pleasure of hosting a terrific young man, Logan Kahle, for a day of birding in Central Ohio. Logan, a resident of San Francisco, is in Ohio visiting his aunt who lives in Delaware. She was referred to me when she was seeking someone to take Logan birding during his visit. Logan is a mixture of personality, enthusiasm and talent. To paraphrase the adage “It’s a small world” it turns out that Logan’s aunt and I have something in common; we both have family roots tied to Essex, Connecticut. Essex is a pin point on the map, all 3 by 5 miles of it, nestled on the banks of the Connecticut River as it meanders into Long Island Sound. But back to birding, I picked Logan up at his aunt’s and we headed first to Jackson Township in Hardin County to locate Dickcissels, Bobolinks and grassland sparrows. Success as we were surrounded by Dickcissels and lesser numbers of Bobolinks and sparrows, with Eastern Meadowlarks thrown in. We next made a circuit of Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area. We located Bald Eagles, Eastern Meadowlarks, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Trumpeter Swan, lots of Common Yellowthroats and Indigo Buntings, Spotted Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs and a lone Forster’s Tern which at first seemed like a great find until we discovered a pair of Sandhill Cranes with their colt. I at first thought there was only the two adults until I scoped them in and my first view was a Sandhill sans the red on the head. Then all three emerged in to the sight picture. We cut through the Delaware Wildlife Area on our way to my home grounds, the Hoover Nature Preserve. There we added more Red-headed Woodpeckers, Yellow Warblers, Baltimore Orioles and a few other expected species. At the preserve we watched the Osprey at the nest platform as they fed the hatchlings. Then off to get Logan his Prothonotary Warbler. Mission accomplished. We added Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Acadian Flycatcher, Wood Thrush, Spotted Sandpiper and a few others. Our last stop was at Hogback Ridge Preserve (Delaware County Preservation Parks). Acadian Flycatchers were everywhere; however the trail was otherwise quite quiet except for two Wood Ducks and a Green Heron. We were now out of water and my old bones were running out of energy. Logan added a nice group of birds to his Life List and additional birds to his Ohio List. I believe he considered the day to be a success. I know I did as I got to enjoy good birding (70+ species in late June) and great company. Between Logan’s enthusiasm and abilities I think we will hear more of him in the future. Charlie Bombaci SPECIES LIST Pied-billed Grebe Great Blue Heron Green Heron Turkey Vulture Canada Goose Trumpeter Swan Wood Duck Mallard Osprey Bald Eagle Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Wild Turkey Common Moorhen SANDHILL CRANE Killdeer Lesser Yellowlegs Spotted Sandpiper Forster’s Tern Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Yellow-billed Cuckoo Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher Red-headed Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Eastern Wood-Pewee Acadian Flycatcher Willow Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Eastern Kingbird Warbling Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow Horned Lark Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Barn Swallow Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Eastern Bluebird Wood Thrush American Robin Gray Catbird Brown Thrasher European Starling Cedar Waxwing Yellow Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Common Yellowthroat Eastern Towhee Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow Song Sparrow Northern Cardinal Indigo Bunting Dickcissel Bobolink Red-winged Blackbird Eastern Meadowlark Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Baltimore Oriole House Finch American Goldfinch House Sparrow ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]